The man who managed to defeat Chuck Norris deserves some recognition for being one of the most badass people that ever lived, that’s a fact. Its common mistake to believe that Bruce’s legacy was that he was an action hero who entertained millions of people through his films and his perfectly executed demonstrations. But Bruce was more, he was a student of life and philosophy he taught people to look within themselves to follow their dreams and Bruce did just that, from building up his own style of Jeet Kune Do (A martial art which he was the founder of) which he taught thousands of people the art of expressing themselves through moving their body. But how does a young man who grew up in 1950’s Hong Kong from a life of crime and gang fighting end up becoming a symbol of purpose and motivation.

What was his drive? What was His motivation? And what propelled him to become the greatest martial artists who ever lived? Bruce Lee, was more than just a movie star, he was a modern day philosopher whose word’s reached and touched millions of people. So here are the Secrets to Bruce Lee’s incredible success story.

Refusing to Accept others beliefs.

In 1970 Bruce Lee suffered from what should have been a career –ending injury. Lee had some very complex and difficult workout routines, and even though Lee takes every precaution when working out, accidents can occur. Unfortunately though this one time Lee suffered a horrible accident while doing one of his ‘good morning’ exercises , in which he placed a 45 kilo barbell on his shoulders and bending over until he faced parallel with the ground. Lee ended up in crippling pain, and was soon admitted to hospital. He was told he had damaged the nerves In his spine, and his doctors told him he’d never practice kung fu again, and the most he could hope for would be to live “a normal life”.

Imagine how different Lee’s life would be if he accepted the advice of the doctors. Doctor’s maybe an expert in medicine, but not with the human mind and the desire that dwell’s deep within. Lee was dedicated, he promised to prove them wrong, pushing his own philosophy and teaching himself to walk, he used his own self beliefs to motivate himself to get stronger every day. He soon walked out the hospital six months later and ended up becoming faster and stronger than ever before. It’s shows Lee’s own mind controls his body, he didn’t limit himself to others thinking, he used his own internal drive pushing himself to walk again. When you accept other’s opinions and beliefs upon yourself, you limit yourself to their beliefs, you can never become more than what they expect from you.

“As you think so shall you become.”

When Lee studied philosophy, he gained the wisdom and the knowledge of self worth into one’s mind. The understanding of the human psyche played a big part in Lee’s life. Lee’s quotes about life really resonates how precious he viewed all the moments that time give us. “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made of.”

Lee’s philosophy “As you think, so shall you become.” Is a simple reminder to us to really think about what we are doing with our lives and to think positively on our own self worth. What do your own thoughts say about you? Are you more past focused? Are you more future orientated or do you live in the present moment? What are the plans and visions you have for yourself? How can you build a life of meaning and how can you become the best version of yourself? Many of Lee’s quotes ask us the real questions that we need to be searching for within us.

Knowing Your Limits

This was a story taken from the book “The Art Of Expressing The Human Body” from Bruce Lee and John Little. The story gathers the thought’s of Lee’s understanding of limitations and the limitations that the mind places onto the body, he will never accept anything less than a person.

“Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a half minutes per mile]. So this morning he said to me “We’re going to go five.” I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.”

I said “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.” So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” –and we’re still running-” if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.”

He said, “Then die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles.Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “Why did you say that?”

He said, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

Taking Your Opportunity

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

This quote from Lee, really teaches us to be more active in our pursuit for what we want. We will never reach the heights in which we desire by being more concerned about the consequences rather than the outcome.

Your Goals, whatever they may be, will be locked behind this wall of fear forever. If you cannot visualize the result before you then you will never find these opportunities which are in front of you.

Don’t live a life of just reacting to a situation, don’t follow what’s happening or what’s trending, this sort of living can make you feel powerless, you can feel lost and guided by external forces which aren’t true to you or your own beliefs. Go where it’s empty follow your own values as this type of living can really set you apart from others.

Always Be You

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

“For it is easy to criticize and break down the spirit of others, but to know yourself takes a lifetime.”

Nobody ever said being your own authentic self was easy. It is a difficult scenario which requires you to look deep within you, and maybe you don’t like what you find, but soon as you identify the problem then can you become the solution and then the true journey of life will begin.

Don’t follow other people’s success because you feel they are going places and you feel like you are not, your own self has so much power to go beyond any other duplicated successful personality.

Giving yourself up to loving the life you live is the only opportunity which you will need, you can’t simulate other people’s views as your own. You will never live to the identity you will hold, you are only living for other peoples validation.

The biggest trick in this world believes that you need other people’s validation in order to be right. Every person has different values and beliefs, it’s what makes us all unique and is the only thing we all have in common is that we all think differently.

Bruce lived his life through his own eye’s and through his own identity, he was never ashamed of himself. Find your own path and enjoy the world as how Bruce would want you to live.